الفهرس 
INTRODUCTION & AIM OF WORK
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
to study the prevalence of rickettsial diseases among dogs and r Upper Egypt, a total of 150 blood samples were collected from ~d 150 blood samples were collected from patients with fever of ~ cause admitted to the fever hospital of Assiut Govemorate. The
cy of occurrence of rickettsial diseases in 50 blood samples
ed from apparently healthy humans was studied. Serodiagnosis of ial diseases in dogs and humans was performed by using indirect ofluorescence assay technique. Molecular diagnosis of rickettsial s was performed by using polymerase chain reaction (peR).
ults achieved in this study can be summarized as follows: prevalence of rickettsial diseases in dogs was 55.3% with a
amounting to 22.7% for Coxiella burnetii and 32.70/0
None of the tested dogs had antibodies against
gender of dogs was not considered as a risk factor in both Q fever boutonneuse fever infection.
t of the examined 150 patients, 69 were seropositive for rickettsial eases with a prevalence rate of 46%.
e prevalence rate among the 150 patients was 37.3% and 8.7% for burnetii and R. conorii respectively. None of the examined patients
ied R. typhi antibodies.
ither age nor sex is considered as a risk factor for Q fever infection
man.
though residence is considered as one of the most important risk ctors in Q fever infection~ its role was apparently observed among e 150 patients as the prevalence rate was 55.9% and 25.3% in rural d urban residents respectively, while residence did not play an
lpparent role among the 50 apparently healthy humans as the lrevalence rate was higher in urban areas (42.9%) than in rural areas
20.7%).
! fever was detected among occupational group in the 150 patients with a prevalence rate of 40.8%, 27.8%, 47.4% and 38.1% for lousewives, farmers, students and workers respectively.
ihe prevalence of rickettsial diseases among the 50 apparently healthy ~umans was studied and the prevalence rate was 30% and 22% for C. ~urnetii and R. conorii respectively. None of the 50 examined ~amples had antibodies against R. typhi. burnetii genome was detected by using nested PCR in 8%, 3.3% I
fd 6% of the examined apparently healthy humans, patients and ogs respectively. Q pHI plasmid was detected in one strain of C. burnetii obtained
om a stray dog.
Based on the results of both IF A technique and PCR method it is that the early diagnosis of Q fever infection must be erformed using PCR because IF A and any other serodiagnostic ethod is useless in diagnosis of Q fever and other rickettsial diseases efore 2 weeks of infection.
Although PCR is able to diagnose Q fever infection in the early e, it can not diagnose it after the invasion of C. burnetii organisms to phagolysosome. Hence at that time the negative result of PCR does confirm the absence of infection. In this case the rising titer of any diagnostic method is confirmatory. The suggestive measures which must be undertaken to control ettsial diseases were proposed.